Bitterroot Star

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Value-savvy taxpayers should vote YES for the BVCC levy

by

by Robert Walsh, Hamilton

If you are a taxpayer in Ravalli County, you are already a supporter of community colleges in Montana. Every year, you, as a taxpayer, have been financially supporting community colleges in Flathead, Custer, and Dawson counties.

Your tax dollars from Ravalli County pour into the state treasury and are then doled out to various entities, including the Montana University System (MUS). In fiscal year 2022 (FY22), the MUS total education budget appropriation was $1.7 billion, with $53 million of that taxpayer money earmarked for community colleges in MT. 

https://mus.edu/data/operating_budgets/FY22/index.html

How much did the individual community colleges get? Flathead Community College got $9.2 million; Miles Community College got $2.9 million; Dawson Community College got $2 million. Those millions of dollars of taxpayer money will be spent and re-spent in the counties where those community colleges exist, benefiting those local economies significantly.

All three of those MT community colleges are also supported by a local levy. Without the local levy, they wouldn’t get that annual influx of cash from the state. Until now, Ravalli County has been getting nothing.

So, it comes down to this. If the Bitterroot Valley Community College levy passes, Ravalli County will start getting its fair share of that $1.7 billion MUS taxpayer money. Passing the BVCC levy will bring your tax dollars back home to Ravalli County.

Before May 3, be a value-savvy taxpayer and vote YES for the BVCC levy!

 

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  1. Helen Sabin says

    I agree with PAUL – Vote no. Here’s why: Go to the Bitterroot Valley Community College and look for the environmental scan from Burning Glass that the Trustees took a long time to post on the website. This report is damming to the college. Look at the conclusions this “gold standard” company gave the Trustees on the success of the college. According to the report, there is LOW INTEREST in getting AA degrees at the college.

    One trustee said that only 120 students are expected when the new college opens in 2024, and the budget I found is over two MILLION dollars. Doing the math that is $16,666.66 they will spend PER STUDENT.

    This college is not ready for prime time …yet. Elect Bowman and Pope who are fiscal hawks and let them sit in on the trustee meetings so we get the “truth” and “transparency” we need. It hasn’t been available to date in a clear fashion. The LEVY was rushed, the college research is still needed and I recommend a vote NO.